Driving company refusing refund, advice?

Carolld

i paid almost £500 for a driving crash course in Manchester and could not attend due to injury. I informed the company with 8 weeks notice and they refuse to refund. I contacted every week for an update on the refund and all he did was shout, be rude and ignore my request.
I feel like I have to take it to court which will incur more fees.

Any ideas?

SuperAllyB

Whatvdid the t&cs say when you booked?

DoaM

And how did you pay?

robatwork

8 weeks sounds like long enough for them to have mitigated their losses ie. by getting someone else to sign up for the course. So their loss may have only been an admin fee - something reasonable for example £50.

You will also need to look at the T&Cs but if they are unreasonable you may still get a judge to find in your favour - so take it to court. Make sure you have all the dates/times you contacted them in order.

Finally - was it really called a "crash course"? I am sure you could teach yourself to crash quite well.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Firstly, don't phone any more but write. Send with proof of posting - that is go to the post office and send it first class and ask for proof of posting which then counts as being assumed to being delivered.

It is unreasonable to not refund with reasonable notice, potentially less an administration fee (it is not fair to the other person to be out of pocket for your problems) so regardless of the contract you had, you should be able to get a refund. Also, see what their website or advert says - they may or may not say something that overrides what they try and put in the small print - you can't advertise one agreement and then switch terms in the small print of the contract.

Did you pay by credit card? If you did you have another string to your bow. Contact the credit card company who will be jointly liable and ask that they intervene. They may be reluctant, but stick to your guns and they may refund you.

Write saying that you require a refund and that if this is not provided within 14 days then you will proceed with a small claim against them.

Small claims are easy and not too expensive and can be done online £35 in this case. However, you do need to put together a properly factual claim (in plain English - you don't need to be a lawyer).

So:

1) Check the wording of the advertisement or website that led you to the company.
2) Check the contract.
3) Run the wording to do with cancellation and deposits by us here.
4) Contact credit card company
5) Contact nasty shouty man by post with final demand for refund.